Summer Winds
by TempestJo
Summary: Sheldon and Penny, after Amy's kiss... Fluffy, maybe OOC. :
1. Chapter 1

It had been a gorgeous day.

Even now, sitting in the patch of evening sunlight on the floor, carefully layering another coat of Perfectly Pink nail polish onto her toenails, Penny could smell summer in the air. A nearby window, wide open to the street below, directed a waft indoors that was hypnotizing. Moist earth, a bit of road dust, the smell of the sun baking the old paint on the sill and the shouts of the neighbourhood kids at the park all floated through. If she closed her eyes, she could almost believe it was August, that she'd just smoothed on coconut scented tanning lotion, and was stretched out on the beach with the sun kissing her thighs as she drifted off to a wave lullaby...

Ok, so maybe Penny had never fully outgrown make believe. She didn't really care. The effect on her frayed nerves was more soothing than a massage and a therapists session.

Cheaper too. Which was why she was sitting there on the floor on a beach towel, wearing shorts and a tank top and painting her nails, thinking her way through the thoughts that had been muddling her mind since she had had the bright idea to take Sheldon dancing.

And he'd said he didn't dance, pah! He'd waltzed her right off her feet, once the groping businessman had moved on to Amy. The tall, gangly man next door could really move. And not just move, but dance, lead, _command_ the dance floor. It was like her very own version of Dancing with the Stars. Just fun and games- a little bit of harmless enjoyment, she thought. But the next morning, a very hungover bestie had called and confessed she had kissed Sheldon, and that they had both decided to pretend it didn't happen.

Which was fine, good even, except that Penny had found herself suddenly full of questions that she didn't dare ask.

Did he like it?

Did he kiss back?

Was it a short kiss? A long kiss? A french kiss?

Did he hold Amy as they kissed?

Visions of how comfortable she had felt in his arms moving around the dance floor floated back to her. For the first time, she wondered what it would feel like if he did that, took command, and then kissed her. Would he even know what he was doing?

Did she even want him to?

The thought of Sheldon ever kissing anyone he wasn't related to and thereby forced to kiss had never really crossed her mind. It had in fact been banned after the unfortunate sight of Leonard's mother laying one on him.

Was it just like that, again? A frozen, deer in the headlights look, followed by a glare?

But what if he liked it? What if he now felt intrigued by it, and started looking for willing females to bring home to kiss and do other things with?

She had tried to imagine coming up the stairs to find Sheldon and some nameless woman in a heated clinch outside his door, but the images just wouldn't come. It was far easier to imagine him leading her around the dance floor at another University function and then pausing as the lights dimmed, to place a gentle yet thorough kiss to her lips, after which he would immediately spin her around the floor again, like Fred Astaire. She'd be Marilyn Monroe. The thought of her red lipstick leaving a mark on his immaculate shirt collar made her smile wickedly and brought her back down to reality.

Lipstick on his shirt? Sheldon would have a fit. He'd have to call his mother to figure out how to get it off and then...

She began to giggle. Oh, what a pickle he'd be in then! She was still chucking to herself when she heard him knock on the door.

"Come in Sheldon." She called, stretching out her legs to admire her handiwork and twisting the cap back on the polish bottle.

He came in as he always did, his eyes scanning the room before landing on her, a silent condemnation of the mess that was her apartment in his eyes. "Have you hurt yourself?" He questioned, seeing her sitting on the floor.

"Nope, I'm enjoying the sun." She offered with a big fake grin that told him what would happen dare he finish the line of questioning. "What can I help you with?"

He fidgeted slightly, "You're well versed in amorous activities, correct?"

She narrowed her eyes and jutted her chin out defensively. "Watch it buddy."

"Kissing." He clarified.

"Oh." Penny smiled. "Is this about you and Amy?" She couldn't ask Amy her questions because she was far to astute but Sheldon might be sufficiently oblivious enough to get some answers out of.

He cleared his throat and make sure her door was closed before coming to stand before her awkwardly. To her surprise he sank down to the floor and sat on the end of the towel by her toes. Her raised eyebrows must have conveyed her surprise because he muttered something about the towel being the cleanest spot in the room. Silently, she waited.

"You've heard then," he began finally, "about Amy's inebriated attempt to engage me in the act of kissing?"

"What about it sweetie?"

"Amy kissed me."

"And?"

"Then she vomited copiously for approximately forty minutes at which time she passed out on the bathroom floor and I placed a folded up towel under her head and came home." He blinked at her.

"I meant, did you _like_ it, did you _feel_ something?"Penny sighed.

He thought for a moment. "Yes, it felt awkward."

"And?" She motioned with her hand, indicating she needed more details.

He stared at her blankly. "It was interesting."

"What was?" She mentally ground her teeth. He was really making her work for information, and it was annoying as hell, especially since she wasn't quite sure why she wanted to know in the first place except for that stupid waltzing fantasy.

His long fingers drummed at his kneecaps, he looked uncomfortable sitting there cross legged, but now she was irritated and wasn't about to stand up and let him take a chair.

"It was different. Not altogether unpleasant. Odd though."

"Why, don't you like Amy?" Penny tilted her head inquiringly.

"Not in that manner, but that is not what was odd, I have been kissed against my will before." He reminded her.

"So what's the problem?"

"I did not get the same enjoyment that you appeared to get when she kissed You." He stared at her.

Penny frowned. What was he saying? That she liked it when Amy kissed her? Or that Amy liked kissing her? Or maybe that Amy was a bad kisser? Which she sort of was, but that wasn't necessarily her fault, practise makes perfect right?

Finally, she asked, "Was it a proper kiss?"

"In what way? Both of her lips touched both of mine, for a brief interval not exceeding three seconds, in a similar fashion to the kiss which she gave you at the bar."

"Oh, no sweetie, you are supposed to hold her maybe, and it should be longer than that." Shaking her head she finally stood up and made her way into the kitchen, pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge and lifting herself to sit on the counter while she sipped at it.

He watched for a minute and then followed her in, protesting. "But it doesn't make sense Penny."

"What doesn't?"

"You both enjoyed it, why didn't I?"

Penny shrugged, "I only enjoyed it because I was drunk and it was funny, Sheldon, Amy isn't really my type, maybe if you had been drunk you would have liked it too."

"It was not UN-enjoyable." He said quietly. "It made me curious. I believe I would like to experience a proper kiss to see if my reaction remains the same, I need a female to do so, and Amy and I have already agreed to never let it happen again."

"Wait. You want me to kiss you?" She froze.

"You kissed Amy for fun, surely you could do the same for me for this experiment."

Could she refuse? Did she want to? It might be a good way to banish those thoughts of swaying in his arms... She tried to find a way out of it, but she couldn't. "A proper kiss." She repeated slowly. "Are you prepared for it?"

With a twitch of excitement that she recognized from the last time Linux had come up with a new Ubuntu he clasped his hands in front of himself. "What will it entail?"

Penny slid down off the counter. "Well, you have to put your arms around my waist, I will put my arms around your neck and pull you towards me, our lips will meet and stay firmly pressed against each other for no less than five seconds."She suggested, waiting for him to bolt for the door.

He pressed his lips together but then nodded. "Are my eyes to be open, or closed?"

"That's up to you. I prefer to kiss with my eyes closed so I can feel the sensations better."

"Ah, by depriving yourself of one sense you intensify the others, intriguing." He noted.

She tried to smile reassuringly but it didn't quite happen. "So, you ready?"

He nodded and stepped forward. "How should I hold you?"

Silently, she took each of his hands and placed them on her waist, stepping forward into his arms. His hands were warm through her shirt, but he was barely touching her, like she was made out of china, or possibly contaminated with foot and mouth disease. Trying to stifle her own thoughts, she moved closer and slowly so as not to scare him, placed her arms on his shoulders and her hands at the back of his neck. When she looked up, he was staring down at her, just watching, waiting. She nodded, and pulled on his neck a bit, rising to her toes. When his mouth was just above hers, she glanced up at him again, then closed her eyes and pressed her mouth to his.

For the first second, it was like he was frozen. In the second, she felt his eyelashes flutter against her cheek as he closed his eyes. By the third, he was relaxed, his hands steadying her and holding her closer, she didn't have to pull on his neck to keep him in place...

His lips parted slightly, probably to ask a question or breathe, she didn't know, because by the time her mind caught up to her she had already run her tongue across his lips, inducing him to snap his mouth closed, catching her lower lip in between hers. She froze, afraid to move, it had not yet been five seconds after all, and he would be disappointed if they failed to reach the set time. Then she realized that he was gently sucking on her trapped lip.

Tasting her. He released her lip and pressed his mouth to hers again, moving it slightly, like the boys in high school had, trying to get it figured out. What felt good? What didn't? What happens when I do ...

She opened her mouth slightly, and he mimicked her, this time it was his tongue that tentatively flicked at her lip. She touched hers to it gently, and felt his grip on her waist tighten just slightly.

Five second had come and gone a few seconds ago, she knew, but he didn't seem inclined to stop, bent on figuring out this new experience and mastering it. He needed to work on it a bit, but at least he wasn't open mouth drooling on her the way some boys had, way back when first "real" kisses were more common than experienced ones.

She was starting to get into it, her hands sliding to rest on his shoulders, his had found it's way into her hair to angle her head into what she supposed must be a more comfortable position for him, and had even gone so far as to half bend so she could be flat footed.

With Sheldon, a short woman must wear shoes, with high pointy heels she thought, before his tongue entered her mouth for real.

It was the ringing of a phone that interrupted them, both of them stepping apart quickly and fumbling in their pockets, trying to figure out whose phone was ringing. It was hers, and she quickly turned it off.

"My mom." She explained curtly. "I'll phone her back."

He nodded, backing towards the door. "I have to... Go."

Penny nodded. She knew her cheeks were as flushed as his, he probably needed a few minutes to analyze and document or something like that. What SHE needed was a good long drink of cold water. Maybe a cold shower too.

Making out with Sheldon... Ok, so they hadn't technically been making out, but it was certainly a real kiss. A good one. She felt warm in places that hadn't been warm in a very long while. Suddenly, she smiled.

"Summer loving, had me a blast..."

She'd just blame it on the weather...


	2. Chapter 2

CH2

Eavesdroppers never hear good about themselves.

It wasn't really her fault, she hadn't intentionally been listening, at least until her name was mentioned. She hadn't even known other people were on the roof until her Ipod battery had died and she had taken the headphones off and placed them in her beach bag.

The part of the roof she was on was surrounded by tall chimneys and vents, providing what Sheldon called a micro-climate. She called it wind blocking, and the heat reflecting off the reddish bricks warmed the temperature up just enough that on a still cool day she could lay up here in her bathing suit and work on her tan. She'd been spending a lot of time there lately, enjoying the stillness, the sense of being alone in the world except for the sun and her book.

But once the headphones were off, she realized she wasn't alone. On the other side of the roof, and out of view, voices could be heard, chatting lightly. Male voices. Not ones that she recognized, though they apparently knew her.

She was used to men talking about her looks or her figure, as a waitress she had to deal with a lot of pervy comments, but those were to her face and could be taken care of by a sharp response or a glare, and in the worst cases by having management remove the person from the restaurant. These guys were sitting on the roof talking about her, about what they would like to do to her, and it wasn't pleasant.

Standing up and confronting them didn't seem like such a great idea, as she was in her bathing suit and as soon as she stood up she would be in the cold wind, and her body would react to the change in temperature in a way the two guys would probably enjoy. Forced to lay there and keep silent until the two went back downstairs, she turned her thoughts to the last week.

There had been the kiss, followed by Sheldon escaping back to his apartment, and her escaping into the world of ebay before calling it a night and heading to bed early. Looking at shoes had just reminded her of her mid-kiss observation that a woman needed heels to kiss Sheldon Cooper. She had to admit, it was a pretty good kiss, for his first time, and she had enjoyed the feel of his arms around her, his hands in her hair.

Which was odd, because usually she didn't like her hair being touched like that. But then, it was Sheldon, and his hands were never dirty, grease stained, chalky, or smelling of a big mac and fries. His hands were always as immaculate as the rest of him. He had held her like she was ... Valuable. It was the only word she could think of to describe it. The way an art historian touched the Venus de Milo, applying no pressure but absorbing the feel of the cool marble, the smoothness created by the artist and perfected by time. It was a nice sensation. Different.

Slowly she picked at the worn end of her beach towel, focusing on a few errant threads. She should really get a new one, she knew, but this was the one she had first bought when she came out to California. It represented what she hoped would be her future. Things hadn't turned out quite like she planned.

Kissing Sheldon. Penny rolled her eyes and smirked. Nobody would believe it. Although, not one of them including herself had even though twice when Amy had said she was pregnant with Sheldon's baby. Yup, they'd all fallen for that bazinga- hook, line, and sinker.

But that was Amy, and she was Penny.

Pretty Penny, who smelled eternally of cheesecake and drank cheap wine, laughed loudly and danced like nobody was watching. The complete antithesis of Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

Yet there was chemistry.

Her lips pursed wryly. Like a kiss from Prince Charming, Sheldon had woken her from an eternal slumber of day to day life, the world seemed different somehow. The question was, what happened now?

She didn't have long to wait to find out. A slamming door signalled that the roof was now empty, save her, and she stood up and gathered her things. Enough day dreaming for one day, enough sun. The stairs were thankfully empty, at least till the fourth floor, where she nearly ran into both Sheldon and Leonard as they walked to her door to knock.

"Oh good, Penny." Leonard smiled. "We were just going to knock."

She tried not to roll her eyes, but didn't quite succeed. Why did Leonard always have to treat her like she was stupid? "What can I do for you?" She asked, tiredly.

"Well, Priya wants to go on a double date, and I thought maybe it might help her feel more comfortable around you if it was you with, you know, a date." He grinned.

Penny smiled tortuously as she unlocked her door. She really had no desire to be around Priya. It wasn't even that she wanted Leonard back, because she didn't.

Sheldon was staring at his feet with his hands clasped behind his back, avoiding eye contact.

"Gee, I'd love to Leonard, but I think I'm busy." She said when the lock finally turned. "Why don't you take Sheldon and Amy, or Howard and Bernadette?"

"I could do that, I guess." Leonard replied, "But it'd be more fun to take you. How about Saturday night, are you free then?"

Pleadingly, she stared at Sheldon. She had helped him with his experimental first real kiss, surely he could help her out with an excuse?

Feeling her eyes on him Sheldon looked up, alarmed.

"Actually I was kind of hoping Sheldon would take me dancing that night." Penny prodded.

He frowned at her.

Leonard laughed. "Sheldon doesn't dance!"

Throwing a dirty look at Leonard, Sheldon sighed. "I will pick you up at seven then, if you don't mind Penny? I would like to be back at a decent hour this time, my circadian rhythm's were off for three days after our last encounter."

Penny smiled. "Of course." Then she turned to Leonard. "Hopefully you'll be able to find someone else to double date with."

"We could come _with_ you." Leonard suggested hopefully.

"No." Sheldon said calmly, stalking back to their apartment and opening the door.

"No?" Leonard followed him, curiously. "Why no?"

"I've seen you dance, you are atrocious." Sheldon complained. "We'd do much better to take Wolowitz."

Penny shut the door and leaned against it warily. Why did Leonard have to be so persistent? Priya and her were never going to be friends. At least Sheldon had come through, refusing point blank. Once Sheldon took a position on something, he never budged; Leonard and Priya would not be accompanying them dancing on Saturday night.

Dancing. She smiled.

Waltzing around the floor in the arms of her tall neighbour.

She needed to find something to wear.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I want to thank everyone who has put reviews who I have not replied to, I'm having difficulty in that the "review reply" links keep sending me to pages that don't exist! Bah! I want you all to know that I truly appreciate your taking the time to let me know what you think and as soon as the links start working again, I will go back to responding to every review! :D**

CH3

Penny leaned over her dresser, staring into the mirror as she fastened her earrings. Last time she had been wearing clubbing clothes, this time she would be dressed properly. A long purple gown clung to her hips sensuously, a hidden slit down the slid allowing her free movement. The gown was made out of kind of soft silky material, it made her feel like a Princess, or at least a formal dancer. Her heels were simple and light, she was ready for a night of serious dancing. It might be the last night she ever got to go, after all. Sheldon might make her sign some kind of agreement banning future attempts to get him on the dance floor.

A gust of wind blew in through the open bedroom window, lifting her skirt and sending it swirling back at her heels. She smiled. A storm was coming in, and the air had that wonderfully crisp, electric feeling to it, the scent of the lilac laundry softener wafting through the room with it from the basket of clean laundry that was near the window. Penn loved storms.

Growing up in Omaha, she'd been able to watch the clouds roll in, ominous and black, gradually filling up the wide sky until they blotted out the sun completely and a roll of thunder brought down the rain. Cold, and wet, but fresh. Renewing. Storms made her feel alternately small, and bigger than life. When the lightening crossed the sky and the hairs on her arms stood up, she felt involved, and had often pretended to be the sorcerer's apprentice as a child, waving her arms at the clouds, commanding them to boom...

The feel of the wind throwing her hair back from her face, tangling it, her mother chiding her for staying out in the storm; the memories. Happy memories.

Tonight would be a happy memory.

As he knocked on the door, she took one last look and walked out of her bedroom, head held high. Tonight she was going to prove that he wasn't the only one who could move across the dance floor with grace.

S

He was quiet on the way there, his blue shirt crisply ironed and tucked into his tan pants, his fingers tapping on his seat belt anxiously. He had not yet learned how to be a relaxed passenger. It seemed a bit odd to be driving herself on what could be considered a date, but as the lightening flashed across the sy, she had to admit she didn't mind. She liked being in charge.

There wasn't much of a crowd this early, as they entered the building the lights flickered gently and a roll of thunder could be heard over the soft strains of the music.

"I certainly hope this building has been inspected recently." Sheldon muttered, "I think that thunder shook the floor."

"Shh." Penny rolled her eyes. "Are you afraid of thunder and lightening?"

Sheldon looked affronted. "Don't be ridiculous, I was merely implying that,"

She interrupted him by pulling him out onto the dance floor. "Then let's dance, it's what we are for."

Obligingly he wrapped an arm around her waist and took her hand in his own, his feet easily finding the rhythm and following the set pattern of the waltz he had learned so long ago. "I thought we were here to avoid a double date with Leonard and Priya?"

"That too." Penny sighed, focused on counting her steps. One, two, three and back, one, two...

For a while they danced in silence, listening to the music and the sound of the storm outside. Someone opened a window and every now and then a gust would blow across the dance floor, swirling skirts and sending chills up the backs of those who were in direct line of it. Every now and then, the lights would flicker, but the music played on, and around and around the floor went Sheldon and Penny.

"I feel like I'm in a movie." Penny whispered at one point. "This is the scene right before the lights go out."

"And the killer comes in waving a knife?" Sheldon guessed, distracted by a particularly loud clap of thunder.

"Not that kind of movie." Penny laughed. This was Sheldon she was talking to, he'd probably never seen the type of movies she was talking about, like The Sound Of Music, or any number of musical romances. Hell, even Mary Poppins had a dancing scene in it.

"While, what comes next then?" He frowned down at her.

"Oh," She paused to think. "Either a kiss or someone runs away, or both. I guess it's not the best metaphor is it?"

His eyebrows were up, but he made no comment, and continued to dance.

The lights didn't end up going out, and no one ran the other way or declared their undying love, but when they left the dance studio the storm had blown over and the world smelled like rain and renewal, prompting Penny to smile up at Sheldon and squeeze his arm.

"What?" He immediately asked.

"Nothing." She shook her head. "I'm just happy."

He looked at her curiously. "Oh." Suddenly he stopped.

"What?" It was her turn to ask. "Did you forget something?"

Without saying a word, he leaned over quickly and pressed a kiss to her lips, then proceeded to walk to her car and wait for the door to be unlocked.

"What was that for?" She asked finally.

"Just like the movies." He replied. "Wasn't it?"

Her smile was huge as she nodded. "Yeah." She agreed. "Tonight was just like the movies."

Or maybe even better.

The End.


End file.
